Albright appeared at a Barnes & Noble in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. on January 9 to discuss what she thought would be important for the next president to consider. She saved the best and worst for last - using harsh words to criticize President George W. Bush.
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"This is a purely practical point here, and I think there's a lot of work to be done" Albright said. "And I think the judgment is that this is one of the worst presidencies we've had and people will wonder what it is that the role of the vice president is."
The original story, posted on the Business & Media Institute Web site earlier today was linked on the Drudge Report, prompted a tough response from the Republican National Committee.
"President Bush has spent the last seven years confronting the dangers that Madeleine Albright let fester under her leadership, Danny Diaz, spokesman from the RNC said to the Business & Media Institute. "No one will take seriously the criticism of a person whose idea of a strong foreign policy was to give a basketball signed by Michael Jordan to Kim Jong Il."
Albright said it was important for the next president to address the issues of "global warming, climate change and energy issues."
"The final big set of issues has to do with that bundle of global warming, climate change, and energy issues," Albright said. "Now if you look at those issues, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that they are the kind of issues that require international cooperation, which means the next president has to have a different style - has to have the capability of dealing with other countries and being interested actually, in what their national interest is and in listening."
Albright also sees globalization as an issue the United States will have to come to grips with during the next presidency and the wealth disparity issues created from it.
"There are people who come to my office and say, ‘we have to stop globalization,'" Albright said. "You can't stop globalization, but I think we have to figure out how to mitigate the worst aspects of it and the problems that have been created and I think one of the worst is that there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor."
Albright was in Washington promoting her book: "Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership."
